Even before the COVID 19 crisis, many cities were facing complex social, environmental, and economic challenges, including social inequalities, impacts of climate change and demographic changes. However, changing work and life patterns are also a chance: medium-sized and smaller cities can attract residents and businesses by being liveable – i.e. by following an integrated and balanced approach for the built environment, innovation culture, public services and socio-cultural life and by evoking a strong sense of active citizenship.
To be more liveable, cities must become „closer", "more public" and "more agile". For this, city administrations should encourage innovative mindsets, out-of-the-box thinking and use of participatory approaches among its civil servants. Public services and planning processes must become more responsive, and authorities should involve residents and civil society to develop ideas of what future urban life should look like. Public interest design (PID), i.e. the application of user-centred design in matters of general interest, is a suitable methodological framework for this objective. It can be applied in practically all domains of public services. The Liveability partnership prepares, pilots and transfers a capacity building programme for public interest design, addressing both the city-wide (leadership level) and civil servants. The project will invite candidate cities to transfer the programme to also be awarded the label of a liveable city.

The project partnership brings together diverse and experienced organizations from the Baltic Sea Region with
the common goal of making cities more liveable. The project is led by Heinrich Böll Foundation Schleswig-Holstein and consists of project partners from six BSR countries – Germany, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Poland, and Estonia (for contact details see below).

Further, 15 associated organisations complements the partnership: Anykščiai District Municipality, Avoti Neighbourhood Association, Christian-Albrecht-University Kiel, Creative Bureaucracy Initiative, Kolding Municipality, Liepaja city municipality administration, Living Streets, Ministry of Justice - European Affairs and Consumer Protection of Land Schleswig Holstein, Narva City Government, Porin kaupunkikeskusta NGO / Porikorttelit, Riga Neighbourhood Alliance, Urban Institute, Umeå municipality, Union of Baltic Cities, VASAB – Vision and Strategies Around the Baltic Sea.